This was a carefully-planned programme, through which ran the theme of the
composer as embodiment of the outsider - Schumann's Manfred Overture deals
with Byron's hero, epitome of restless Romantic insecurity; Wagner, himself
the outcast in his departure from Germany after his involvement with the
1848 revolution and finally Shostakovich, the archetypal composer struggling
against Soviet censorship.

Schumann's Manfred, Op. 115 was, perhaps, the least musically successful
item of the programme. Despite a seamless transition to the allegro, the
development lacked the requisite drama. One was, however, consistently impressed
by Haitink's ability to delineate textures throughout - although some problems
with wind and brass ensemble detracted somewhat.

The entry into a more intimate world in Wagner's Wesendonk Lieder of 1857/8
brought with it an altogether higher experience. This was due in no small
part to the soloist on this occasion, the mezzo Petra Lang. She was
possessed of a burnished, deep, chesty tone in the first setting, Der Engel,
but it was her ability to see each Lied as a whole entity which impressed
most - in the second song, 'Stehe still! (Stand still!) her initial robustness
and underplaying of many of the emotional opportunities meant that her
highlighting of the final phrase 'Heilige Natur' (Holy Nature) was wonderfully
effective. And so I could go on - the desolation of 'Im Triebhaus' was near
palpable whilst maintaining textbook diction throughout. In Traume (the last
of the set and the only one actually orchestrated by Wagner - the rest being
arranged by Felix Mottl) Haitink reminded us of the deceptive simplicity
of the composer's scoring, spinning a subtly-spun web over which Lang floated
effortlessly. (Petra Lang is due to sing Kundry at the Proms under Rattle.).

Michael White's excellent pre-concert
talk on Shostakovich's Tenth re-opened questions of ciphers and politics
and set the scene appropriately for Haitink's account. We were left in no
doubt as to the LPO's virtuosity throughout (just one example was the first
violin's articulation at the allegro of the last movement) but more than
this, Haitink guided us through the whole gamut of emotions, from the profound
stillness of the opening paragraphs, through eloquence and spiky parody in
the third movement, Allegretto. A most moving experience.

ColinClarke

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